Journals
2014 EN
Michele Williams · Kyle J. Emich
The purpose of this study was to investigate failed interpersonal affect regulation through the lens of humor. We investigated individual differences that influenced people's affective and cognitive responses to failed humor and their willingness to persist in the interpersonal regulation of positive affect after a failed attempt.
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Beth Vogel · Vincent R. Bonagura · Geoffrey A. Weinberg
+15 more
To describe the process and assess outcomes for the first 2 years of newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID NBS) in New York State (NYS).
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Michele Raitano · Francesco Vona
This paper investigates the relationship between family background and earnings using relative social mobility to decompose residual background correlations, namely the effect of background on earnings left after controlling for background-related intervening factors. Using the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for 8 countries, we first show that country differences in terms of intergenerational inequality concern residual background correlations and then decompose these correlations using changes in relative social positions. In immobile countries, we find that significant residual correlations are mainly driven by penalisation of upward mobility in the UK (glass ceiling) and by an insurance against downward mobility in Spain and Italy (parachute). In mobile countries, insignificant residual correlations mask heterogeneous returns to social mobility. While our findings for Southern countries hardly concur with human capital theory, the widespread emergence of glass ceiling effects appears to be consistent with this theory
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Drazba Kathryn T. · Kelley Michele A. · Hershberger Patricia E.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is an innovative prenatal testing option because the determination of whether a genetic disorder or chromosomal abnormality is evident occurs prior to pregnancy. However, PGD is not covered financially under the majority of private and public health insurance institutions in the United States, leaving couples to decide whether PGD is financially feasible. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the role of finances in the decision‐making process among couples who were actively considering PGD. In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were completed with 18 genetic high‐risk couples (36 individual partners). Grounded theory guided the analysis, whereby three themes emerged: 1) Cost is salient, 2) Emotions surrounding affordability, and 3) Financial burden and sacrifice. Ultimately, couples determined that the opportunity to avoid passing on a genetic disorder to a future child was paramount to the cost of PGD, but expressed financial concerns and recognized financial access as a major barrier to PGD utilization.
Journals
2014 EN
Michele Pappin · Lochner Marais · Carla Sharp
+4 more
This paper investigates the relationship between socio-economic status and emotional well-being of orphans in Mangaung, South Africa. Five hundred orphans aged 7-11 years participated in the cross-sectional study between 2009 and 2012. Data was collected by trained fieldworkers, who conducted face-to-face interviews and questionnaires with the orphans, their teachers and caregivers, and the heads of the households where the orphans resided. The caregivers, children and teachers all completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in order to measure the orphans' mental health, while heads of household provided information about socio-economic indicators. STATA version 12 was used to perform multivariate data analyses to identify socio-economic factors associated with the mental health of orphans. Food security, access to medical services and a male caregiver were factors associated with better emotional well-being of orphans, whereas other variables such as household asset index and monthly household expenditure were not linked with the orphans' mental health. Two of the three variables (food security and access to medical services) associated with better emotional well-being of orphans are also government interventions to assist orphans. Further research is needed to determine whether other government programs also impact the emotional well-being of orphans.
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Francesco Ciampa · Erkan Önder · Ettore Barbieri
+1 more
In this paper the nonlinear material response of damaged composite structures under periodic excitation is experimentally and numerically investigated. In particular, the nonlinear wave propagation problem was numerically analysed through a finite element model able to predict the nonlinear interaction of acoustic/ultrasonic waves with damage precursors and micro-cracks. Such a constitutive model is based on the Landau’s semi-analytical approach to account for anharmonic effects of the medium, and is able to provide an understanding of nonlinear elastic phenomena such as the second harmonic generation. Moreover, Kelvin tensorial formulation was used to extend the wave propagation problem in orthotropic materials to the 3D Cartesian space. In this manner, the interaction of the stress waves with the 3D crack could be analysed. This numerical model was then experimentally validated on a composite plate undergone to impact loading. Good agreement between the experimental and numerical second harmonic response was found, showing that this material model can be used as a simple and useful tool for future structural diagnostic applications
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Michele Castellana · Adriano Barra · Francesco Guerra
In this paper we study two non-mean-field spin models built on a hierarchicallattice: The hierarchical Edward-Anderson model (HEA) of a spin glass, andDyson's hierarchical model (DHM) of a ferromagnet. For the HEA, we prove theexistence of the thermodynamic limit of the free energy and thereplica-symmetry-breaking (RSB) free-energy bounds previously derived for theSherrington-Kirkpatrick model of a spin glass. These RSB mean-field bounds areexact only if the order-parameter fluctuations (OPF) vanish: Given that suchfluctuations are not negligible in non-mean-field models, we develop a novelstrategy to tackle part of OPF in hierarchical models. The method is based onabsorbing part of OPF of a block of spins into an effective Hamiltonian of theunderlying spin blocks. We illustrate this method for DHM and show that,compared to the mean-field bound for the free energy, it provides a tighternon-mean-field bound, with a critical temperature closer to the exact one. Toextend this method to the HEA model, a suitable generalization of Griffith'scorrelation inequalities for Ising ferromagnets is needed: Since correlationinequalities for spin glasses are still an open topic, we leave the extensionof this method to hierarchical spin glasses as a future perspective.
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Andrea Agazzi · Jean-Pierre Eckmann · Gian Michele Graf
We rely on a recent method for determining edge spectra and we use it tocompute the Chern numbers for Hofstadter models on the honeycomb lattice havingrational magnetic flux per unit cell. Based on the bulk-edge correspondence,the Chern number $\sigma_H$ is given as the winding number of an eigenvector ofa $2 \times 2$ transfer matrix, as a function of the quasi-momentum $k \in (0,2\pi)$. This method is computationally efficient (of order $O(n^4)$ in theresolution of the desired image). It also shows that for the honeycomb latticethe solution for $\sigma_H $ for flux $p/q$ in the $r$-th gap conforms with theDiophantine equation $r=\sigma_H\cdot p+ s\cdot q$, which determines $\sigma_H\mod q$. A window such as $\sigma_H \in(-q/2,q/2)$, or possibly shifted,provides a natural further condition for $\sigma_H$, which however turns outnot to be met. Based on extensive numerical calculations, we conjecture thatthe solution conforms with the relaxed condition $\sigma_H\in(-q,q)$.
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Michele Castellana
We consider two non-mean-field models of structural glasses built on ahierarchical lattice. First, we consider a hierarchical version of the randomenergy model (HREM), and we prove the existence of the thermodynamic limit andself-averaging of the free energy. Furthermore, we prove that theinfinite-volume entropy is positive in a high-temperature region bounded frombelow, thus providing an upper bound on the Kauzmann critical temperature. Inaddition, we show how to improve this bound by leveraging the hierarchicalstructure of the model. Finally, we introduce a hierarchical version of the$p$-spin model of a structural glass, and we prove the existence of thethermodynamic limit and self-averaging of the free energy.
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2014 EN
Stefano Giordano · Michele Pagano · Francesca Russo
+1 more
The paper proposes a Markovian approach to the performance evaluation of the ESSE (early slow start exit) modification of the TCP congestion control mechanism. ESSE takes advantage of estimating the optimal pipesize at the sender side to properly select initial slow start threshold. Previous simulative experiments have shown that ESSE allows one to speed-up TCP connections and significantly reduces the packet drop rate at the bottleneck. This work takes a step further in understanding the ESSE behavior by developing a model of TCP source to evaluate the influence of different settings of slow start threshold on a TCP performance. As confirmed by comparison with simulations, the model provides, significantly faster than simulations, accurate estimates of typical performance indicators such as the average completion time and average drop rate of short-lived TCP connections
Springer Science+Business Media